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Eight Mega Drive and arcade classics have been turned into 3DS downloads, but can they really be better than the originals?

From arch rivals to the closest of confederates, Sega and Nintendo have always complemented each other. Regardless of whether you had to buy a separate console to enjoy their games, or take a walk down to the local arcade, for too such long-standing competitors there’s very little overlap in their first party output. As company mascots they may have been playing the same roles but Sonic and Mario’s best games have very little in common and it’s very easy to enjoy both without breaking any allegiances.

If Sega hadn’t been bought by Sammy (and if Nintendo weren’t so reticent about putting their hand in their pocket) we imagine the two would’ve merged years ago but for now they restrict themselves to close collaborations, such as this new range of 3D-ised Sega classics.

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They’ve been released in pairs over the last few weeks, with the final two appearing on the eShop on Thursday. Each one is a Mega Drive or coin-op classic that’s been remastered by Sega’s own internal emulation studio M2. The results are not only definitive versions of some of Sega’s best known games but they also make some of the best use of the 3DS’s glasses-free 3D effect.

We wanted to review them before the end of the year but even now they’re all out we’re still hesitant because we don’t really want to give them a score out of 10. Games like Galaxy Force II and Space Harrier were always extremely shallow and in strict gameplay terms have few redeeming features for a modern gamer.

But these are clearly nostalgia pieces and although in terms of gameplay they haven’t stood the test of time in terms of arcade style shock and awe they still manage surprisingly well. So with the arcade games in particular, if you remember them fondly from the first time round you can easily add a couple of points to the final score.

3D Space Harrier (3DS) – polygons are for losers

3D Space Harrier

Despite all the tender loving care that has gone into these conversions the logic behind which games Sega has chosen to update and which have been left out is baffling. We can’t work out any significant connection between any of these games, except that two of the three arcade games are by Shemue creator Yu Suzuki.

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Space Harrier was originally released in 1985 and signalled the beginning of Sega’s golden era of ‘sprite scaling’ games. There wasn’t a polygon in sight back then and instead the illusion of three-dimensional space was achieved via 2D images the grew and shrank in size as they came towards you. The software technology was married to ever more outrageous cabinets, many of which featured hydraulic movement.

As an indication of just what lengths 3D Space Harrier goes to emulate the original game there’s an option to not only simulate the movement of the cabinet screen but even the creak and clank of the pistons.

The game itself though is extraordinarily simple: you’re a guy flying into the screen (or running along the ground if you prefer) shooting a range of monsters and robots as they come towards you and… that’s it. There are obstacles to avoid and occasionally a boss battle but in terms of nuanced gameplay mechanics Space Harrier doesn’t have any.

And yet at the time it managed to blow minds simply because the graphics and the overall experience were so unlike anything else that had ever been seen. And it’s a testament to the game’s distinctive, brightly-coloured artwork that’s it still mindlessly enjoyable today.

Score: 5/10

Price: £4.49Age Rating: 7

3D Super Hang-On (3DS) – lean to steer

3D Super Hang-On

The original Hang-On was also released the same year as Space Harrier but this sequel arrived in 1986, the same year as OutRun. Why OutRun isn’t one of these 3D games we can’t imagine, as Super Hang-On is more of an update than a real sequel and the visuals seemed more rudimentary even at the time.

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With very little track-side detail and strangely thin roads, there’s again an almost complete lack of depth or subtlety to the experience. However, M2 have excelled themselves again, not only simulating the movement of the cabinet but also making great use of the 3DS’s motion sensors, since the deluxe version of the coin-op had an actual motorcycle replica that you would sit on and move.

There were actually subtle variations in stages and difficulty depending on which cabinet you were playing and both variants are represented here. It is however the one game out of the eight where we felt the 3D effect didn’t quite work all the time, with other riders seeming strangely disconnected from track when in the distance. Although you can of course turn the 3D off whenever you want.

Score: 6/10

Price: £4.49Age Rating: 3

3D Sonic The Hedgehog (3DS) – an illustration of how much M2 love their job

3D Sonic The Hedgehog

We assume Sega’s iconic game needs no introduction but despite being re-released so very many times before this is arguably the definitive version. Like all of M2’s games there’s a choice between playing the ‘international’ and Japanese version, so you don’t have to suffer the awful slowdown of the original PAL conversion.

Not that M2 stop there as you can also switch between emulation of the Mega Drive or the Mega Drive II, with the latter having slightly better sound. You can redefine any of the keys and you can even force the display to emulate a rubbish old CRT telly (since obviously the original was never designed in windscreen).

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You also have the option to include the spin dash move introduced in later sequels if you want, or take your pick of stages right from the start. Although the appeal depends on how many versions of the game you already own this is unquestionably one of the best.

Score: 8/10

Price: £4.09Age Rating: 12

3D Altered Beast (3DS) – wise from your grave!

3D Altered Beast

This is the one game of the set we were gravely disappointed by, because it’s the Mega Drive version not the original coin-op. As eccentric as some of the other choices are this one is flat out bizarre, and although it is a relatively close conversion, especially for an early console title, Altered Beast’s appeal is based purely on its giant sprites and state-of-the-art (for 1988) visuals.

The Mega Drive version is only a pale shadow of that experience and although you can play it in two-player mode you have to both own the game, which already starts to become more expensive than just buying an old cart from a car boot sale. In its favour the digitised voices are still laughably awful and the central gimmick, of collecting orbs so you can transform into a were creature (wolf, dragon, tiger, etc.) is a fun one. But the game is an incredibly shallow beat ’em-up even by the standards of the time.

Score: 2/10

Price: £4.49Age Rating: 12

3D Galaxy Force II (3DS) – the pinnacle of sprite scaling

3D Galaxy Force II

Sega might have been throwing darts at a board when picking what games to emulate but thank goodness Lady Luck smiled on this. Not that Galaxy Force II is an especially good game but I have great memories of playing the sit-down version in the arcade in Mundesley, Norfolk while on holiday. Although nothing to do with Yu Suzuki it can be seen as the ultimate evolution of his games Space Harrier and After Burner, with the same simple into-the-screen action but even better graphics.

There’s a sci-fi theme here and although it’s clearly riffing on Star Wars (the first stage is a homage to the end of Return of the Jedi) it’s also interesting how similar the game is to Star Fox, despite coming out half a decade earlier. There’s also something of Panzer Dragoon in the way the game will let you target multiple enemies at once and shoot them all down with a single missile-unleashing button press.

In gameplay terms the game’s barely any more complex than Space Harrier but the graphics are a revelation, especially with the new 3D effect. The illusion of 3D space is amazing and, perhaps because the home versions at the time were so poor, it’s a shock to find out how well the sprite-scaled graphics still look today.

Score: 6/10

Price: £4.49Age Rating: 7

3D Ecco The Dolphin (3DS) – too hard for its own good

3D Ecco The Dolphin

A controversial game even at the time of its release, there’s much to enjoy in a game where you play as a simple dolphin who’s goal isn’t to fight or destroy but simply reunite with his pod. But while the innocent joys of swimming and leaping around in the shallows at the beginning of the game are as fun now as ever the game’s extreme difficultly still makes it very hard to enjoy.

Why the one game most suitable for a casual audience was made so difficult has always been a mystery but the vicious wildlife and perilously short oxygen meter make playing Ecco The Dolphin a chore. M2 has tried to solve the problem with a super dolphin mode where you’re completely invulnerable but that’s too extreme a measure and still leaves the game without a proper difficultly level.

Score: 4/10

Price: £4.09Age Rating: 7

3D Streets Of Rage (3DS) – never mind the graphics, listen to the music

3D Streets Of Rage

With the exception of Sonic and an obscure 3DS reboot of Shinobi it’s interesting to note that none of these games have seen a sequel since the PlayStation 2 era and many of them not even then. Whether that’s meant to be the connection between them all we’re not sure but it’s hard to imagine how you’d adapt Streets Of Rage into anything other than a retro-themed download such as Double Dragon Neon.

This first game in the trilogy started off as a straight clone of Capcom’s Final Fight, but offered more complex controls and more varied encounters. It also had one of the best soundtracks ever heard on the Mega Drive. It was a bit easy though and the sequels are inarguably superior, but again there’s a wireless co-op mode and a fun new one-hit-kill mode called Fists of Death, where you can knock down every bad guy with a single punch.

Score: 5/10

Price: £4.49Age Rating: 12

3D Shinobi III (3DS) – the king of parallax scrolling

3D Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master

There’s little agreement on whether this or its predecessor The Revenge Of Shinobi is the superior game but both represent a high watermark in Sega’s attempts to expand its arcade hits into more nuanced home console games. Shinobi III gives its protagonist greater athletic prowess, with wall jumps and a sprint move, and although it’s still a pretty simple action platformer the quality and variety of the graphics retain their retro charm.

M2 has added an Expert Ninja mode which expands the controls slightly to focus more on using your sword, turning it into something even closer to an alternative Ninja Gaiden. What impresses most about Shinobi III though is the 3D effect. In the other Mega Drive games the effect is a novelty, neither adding nor subtracting to the experience.

That’s no doubt in large part because the games were never designed with 3D in mind and, unlike the coin-ops, don’t involve you travelling ‘into’ the screen. However, the multiple levels of parallax scrolling in Shinobi III, where different parts of the background scroll at different speeds to give an illusion of depth, work brilliantly well. And some of the bonus stages, such as one on a horse and one on a surfboard (yah, ’90s gaming!) look genuinely stunning.